The Jersey Hospitality Association has expressed concern as the UK government announces its post-Brexit immigration plans.
Under the proposed scheme, waiting staff will be considered low skilled and therefore will not be eligible for UK visas. Employers in the UK are being urged to ‘move away’ from relying on ‘cheap labour’ from Europe.
‘At this stage, while we are concerned about not having routes for staff to come and work in the hospitality industry post-Brexit, we will be having discussions with the relevant authorities in Jersey,’ said Simon Soar, the Chief Executive of the Jersey Hospitality Association (JHA).
‘Now that we have seen what the UK Government is proposing, we will have a clearer idea of how we, as an industry, wish matters to proceed.’
While Jersey sets its own population policy, it must align with the UK as a trade-off for membership of the Common Travel Area, which includes the UK, Ireland and Isle of Man.
Urgent discussions between the JHA and Jersey’s immigration authorities are expected to take place in the next few days.